1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a portable sign and/or barrier. More particularly, the invention relates to a portable sign and/or barrier secured to a conventional shopping cart. For the sake of brevity the present invention will be referred to as a cart barrier throughout the body of the following specification, although it should be readily understood that the present invention may be used simply as a sign without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Stores, and especially grocery stores, are continually confronted with the need to create barriers to keep costumers from entering hazardous areas. For example, when a spill occurs in the aisle of a grocery store, an employee must leave the aisle to gather the equipment necessary for cleaning the mess. If a barrier is not readily available, the aisle must be left unprotected while the employee goes to gather the necessary equipment to clean up the spill.
This often presents danger to those patronizing the store, and costs stores substantial damages in slip and fall lawsuits. For example, the average "slip and fall" will cost a store approximately $7,500. Other slip and falls may cost a store up to hundreds of thousands of the dollars if not more.
As a result, a need exists for a portable and readily available barrier which may be used to protect consumers from dangerous situations which may arise while shopping in a retail store. The present invention provides such a barrier.